Greetings :)

I have a challenge for which I _think_ the use of threads is possibly the answer. However, as threading is completely new and unchartered (and somewhat daunting) territory for me, I felt that it may be wise to consult the monks before diving in and getting a mouthful ;)

My problem can be summarised as follows:

• I have a number of remote Wireless Access Controllers (WAC's) - currently ~200, but growing
• Each controller is responsible for its own group of access points (AP's), which can number anywhere between 1 and ~50
• Each of the AP's needs to be tested on a regular basis to determine whether or not it is alive.
• The current method for testing whether an AP is alive of not is via telnet.
• This is done WAC by WAC, AP by AP, one after the other - which means that it takes quite a while to test them all.

In other words....

# psuedocode
foreach my $foo (%controllers) {
    foreach (@{$controllers{$foo}{access_points}}) {
        Is $_ alive?
    }
}
[download]

Currently, I run my test every 20 minutes, and it takes ~15 minutes to test every single AP. Because I need to allow for a time out, the run time will increase or decrease depending on the number of AP's detected as off line on any given run. Clearly, this is not scalable, and I'm going to have problems as the number of devices to be tested increases. So I need to find a more efficient way to do it.

I've done a bit of reading on Perl threads, and in particular the threads tutorial, and I suspect that what I'm looking for is a "Work Crew" model. But again, I'm not sure, so I'm seeking your collective advice...

• Are threads what I should be using, or should I consider something else?
• If the "Work Crew" model is the right one for my particular problem, can somebody point me to some example code that demonstrates how this model is implemented?

Many thanks,
Darren :)

PS. I probably should make mention of the fact that my current code is implemented as an extension for the Big Brother Network Monitoring Tool. That is, the reports that my code produces are fed into Big Brother.

Update: I feel quite overwhelmed by the number of responses and the variety of potential solutions offered. Proves once again the TIMTOWTDIness of Perl, and the value of Perlmonks as a community ('sif we didn't know these already). For the time being, I have a very quick & dirty implementation of Parallel:ForkManager working, which has solved my immediate problem. However, I fully intend to investigate most of the other solutions offered. So a big thank you to all those that offered their advice and comment :)

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